The water was cold, chilling her as it sluiced over her back. She washed quickly, trying to scrub out the memory of Hades’ hands and the hands of the dead wandering over her body, and then it was time to crawl into bed and pretend that this night had never happened.

“Good night, mistress,” Xenia said from her seat at the other end of the bed.

Persephone rolled over until she was facing away from Xenia. “You don’t need to sit here. Just lock me in and be done with it.”

“Yes, mistress,” Xenia said without moving.

Persephone wrapped a pillow around her head and closed her eyes. She could still hear Xenia’s breathing. The sound sawed at the edge of her consciousness, despite her body’s fatigue. She forced herself to try to relax, knowing she could not face the next day without sleep. In time, her mind floated down into the dreaming earth and her worries evaporated, at least for a while.

8

THE WEDDING

The next day, Xenia did not allow Persephone to be unattended. Her fingernails and toenails were scrubbed and trimmed, her hair neatened, and once dressed she was taken to a temple dedicated to Gaia, where she spent hours on her knees in prayer.

She could scarcely pray for her marriage to be blessed, as a bride should. Instead, she prayed for deliverance and compassion. Failing that, she prayed for Hades’ ruination. If the goddess heard her, Persephone saw no sign.

The servants gently coaxed her out of the temple, where she would’ve remained forever, given the chance. The rest of the day saw her fitted in her wedding attire, the serving girls taking up the hem by a few fingers’ widths.

Persephone had never felt so decorative and useless. She watched the needlework; the girls might as well have been sewing her shroud.

The day ended without a single glimpse of Hades, though she was never far from Persephone’s mind.

The morning after that began with a bath. She had to be dragged out of the cold water, her fingertips wrinkled, and then was forced to sit in a chair for what felt like hours as her hair was coiled into an elaborate confection of braids interwoven with precious gems.

Persephone suffered through all of this in a haze of detachment. This could not possibly be happening to her, and therefore it was not.

Xenia brushed some powder over her cheeks and dabbed at her lips. She stood back to observe her work. Persephone’s head was heavy with gems, and even the slightest movement of her neck was tiresome. Nonetheless she could not fail to be moved by Xenia’s undisguised joy.

“You’ll make a beautiful consort,” Xenia said.